


I've got your picture in my wallet

by xuxicentric



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, But only if you squint, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, established!johnten, jaehyun is shy, jeongcheol too, there's yuwin if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 20:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15648138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xuxicentric/pseuds/xuxicentric
Summary: Where Jaehyun keeps a photo of senior Lee Taeyong in his wallet.





	I've got your picture in my wallet

Jaehyun taps his right foot absentmindedly, his eyes scanning the entirety of the small room. He’s been called in by the disciplinary officer but he doesn’t know why. He shifts nervously, eyes darting to the woman in front of him as he waits for her to tell him why he’s been here for the past ten minutes and why she hasn’t spoken from the moment he came in. The officer scans through piles of paper in front of Jaehyun, as if she was searching for something.

“Wait here.” She finally stands up and leaves the room, giving Jaehyun the chance to breathe in deeply. _Fuck,_ he thought, _what am I even here for?_

He was about to pull his phone out from his pocket when something catches his attention.

“Lee Taeyong…?” His eyes were focused on the said student’s picture, taped on the administrator’s table and beside a lot more of other students’ photos.

_He looks so beautiful._

Jaehyun had a sudden thought and debated with himself on whether he’d do it or not.

_What if the officer notices?_

_He won’t, idiot. There are other pictures there, I’m sure she doesn’t even know half of the names of those people._

He looks around the small office, eyes lingering on the door for a while before deciding to detach the senior’s photo.

He then hears the door click.

“Fuck.” Jaehyun had managed to grab the photo before the officer could even enter her office. She then hands Jaehyun a stack of papers. “Distribute these to your class within the day.” He receives them nervously, fearing that the picture in his hand would fall or that the administrator in front of him would see what he was holding on so tightly to. He leaves the room quickly, sighing in relief and smiling like an idiot as he walked down to his next class.

Jaehyun wants to scream in delight.

 

“Hey, Jae.” Ten taps Jaehyun’s shoulder before sitting in front of him. “Treat me something to eat.” The shorter man takes his friend’s wallet like he’d usually do, and Jaehyun almost forgets not to let _anyone_ touch his wallet for the time being. Not until he finds a safe place for _it._

“No!” Jaehyun half-shouts and Ten is startled by his friend’s response. He quickly snatches his wallet away from Ten before pulling out a green crisp bill from it to hand it to his friend. “Here.”

Ten raises his eyebrow, eyeing suspiciously at Jaehyun who was now biting his lip, worried that Ten might pry more as to why he’d acted that way. He was about to question Jaehyun when Johnny came and sat beside Ten.

Johnny notices the weird atmosphere between his best friend and his boyfriend and quickly decides to cut it. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Jung Jaehyun is hiding something.”

Johnny raises his eyebrows at Jaehyun. Jaehyun shakes his head.

“Johnny, he took his wallet away from me!”

“It’s _mine,_ Ten.”

“Babe!” Johnny chuckles, grabbing Ten’s hand and stands up, dragging his boyfriend along. “Let’s go get you some food, hm?”

But before the couple could even leave, a familiar man calls out Johnny’s name. The two immediately turn their attention to whoever called Johnny, not noticing how Jaehyun’s ears turn beet red the moment he heard the man’s voice.

“Oh, hey Taeyong.” Jaehyun has his eyes focused on the table, sweating profusely because _holy shit Taeyong sunbae is here what the f-_

“Do you have time to go over our presentation for this afternoon? Oh, hi Ten!” He hears his senior’s cheery voice and suddenly his heart just bursts because he finds his voice so endearing and lovely and beautiful and—

“Yeah, sure, we’ll just buy our meals quick, yeah? Oh, right. Taeyong, this is Jaehyun, best friend.”

Jaehyun makes a mental note to kick Johnny later.

He sighs softly, calming himself before turning to face Taeyong. He puts on his awkward smile and practices his usual _Hello_ but once he takes a good look on the man in front of him, he loses his voice.

“Hi Jaehyun.” Taeyong holds his hand out for Jaehyun, who’s still frozen in place. “Lee Taeyong. Johnny’s classmate.”

Jaehyun wants to evaporate.

 

It’s been exactly eight minutes (yes, Jaehyun has been counting) since Ten and Johnny left him and Taeyong alone and _god,_ Jaehyun swears this has been the most awkward eight minutes of his life. It’s not as if this has been the first time he’s seen Taeyong in person, nor was it the first time the latter has approached Johnny while he was with Jaehyun, but this was the first time he’s been formally introduced to his senior slash long time crush because whenever he’d see Taeyong slowly approaching them, Jaehyun would quickly make up an excuse to leave.

He’s scared, alright. He doesn’t know how to react or move around Taeyong. He likes him so much he’s afraid of fucking up in any way. Jaehyun knows it’s impossible for Taeyong to like him back, so the least he could do for himself is to not ruin his image to Taeyong.

 _Great_ , Jaehyun mentally curses Ten and Johnny, _eleven fucking minutes_.

“Jaehyun?” Said man almost falls off the chair because of shock, not expecting Taeyong to actually _talk_ to him. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah.” He bites his tongue for stuttering. _Man up, Jung Jaehyun. You can fucking do this._

“Are you sure? Oh, your ears are red! Are you really okay?” Taeyong’s hand instinctively reaches Jaehyun’s red fucking ears and he can’t even do anything because he’s _frozen._ All he could do was follow Taeyong’s hands with his eyes. He can’t even imagine the face he’s making right now because there is no way in hell he has ever expected Lee Taeyong touch his ears.

“I’m just a little cold.” _Stupid, it’s like 30 degrees right now!_

Taeyong’s face etches worry and boy, Jaehyun had not expected what Taeyong was doing next.

“Tae? What are you doing?” Taeyong’s hand doesn’t leave Jaehyun’s neck, slowly feeling it up to check if his temperature is high. “Jaehyun says he’s a little cold.” Jaehyun sends a look that screams _‘save me’_ towards Johnny. His best friend realizes it immediately and says, “You want to go, Jae?”

“Yeah.” Jaehyun hurriedly stands up and takes his bag. “I have to go, uh, rest.”

Taeyong smiles at him. “Get well, _Jae.”_

Jaehyun wants to cry.

 

Jaehyun finishes up the form handed out in History and realizes he needs to staple a picture of him on the corner of the paper. He looks for a photo lying around his table and inside his drawer but to no avail, he fails to find one. He then remembers he gave Johnny one when the latter asked for his photo and decides to just ask it back.

Jaehyun picks his wallet up and stares at the photo kept neatly on it and sighs. He’s still bent over what happened at lunch today. Jaehyun is _sure_ that Lee Taeyong now thinks of him as the freak who couldn’t speak in front of him. He knows Taeyong would eventually realize Jaehyun likes him. Jaehyun groans as he begins to think of how awkward things would really get from now on. He rests his forehead on top of his table, mentally cursing himself for being weird around his _senior._ He hears a small creak from his bedroom door but doesn’t give it much attention. Instead, he gazes over Taeyong’s picture on his wallet once more, wallowing over the fact that he will never look at Jaehyun’s way.

 

“Hey Jaehyun—what the fuck? Why do you have Taeyong’s photo in your wallet?”

Jaehyun finally falls over his seat and mumbles a little ‘ouch’ before finally looking up to his best friend, who’s now in utter shock.

“Y-you like Taeyong?”

He helps himself up, ignoring Johnny, and walks straight to his bed letting himself fall into the comfort of soft duvets and pillows. But Johnny doesn’t let him rest; he pulls the pillow Jaehyun’s resting on and hits Jaehyun with it. “Answer me you fucker.”

“I do.” Jaehyun mumbles against his mattress. “Now go away.”

Johnny sits beside him and hits him again, “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Doesn’t matter, I have like, zero chance.”

“Oh my god that’s why you were freaking out when Ten took your wallet!”

He feels Johnny stand up but Jaehyun doesn’t dare to move. He deserves to drown himself in sadness, even if it’s just for tonight. He promises himself that he’d _try_ to forget whatever happened today and go on as if he hadn’t made a fool of himself in front of Taeyong.

“Ten told me he thinks you like Taeyong but I didn’t think much of it because you’ve never really mentioned him nor asked about him which is kinda weird considering how nosy you are when it comes to my other friends—oh.” Jaehyun wants to laugh at Johnny but doesn’t really have the strength to do so.

It’s quiet in his room for a few minutes, which made Jaehyun a little worried and freaked out because his best friend has been silent for too long. He looks over his shoulder and sees Johnny on his phone, typing frustratingly. “Please don’t tell me you’ve told Ten already.”

Johnny looks at Jaehyun, grins widely, and shrugs, turning his attention back to his phone. The latter rolls his eyes, deciding it wasn’t worthy enough to argue about. He suddenly remembers the photo he was going to ask from Johnny.

“Hey, remember that photo you asked from me?”

“Hm? Which one?”

“My photo? The one I had printed for my applications? I’m all out of copies and I need one for my History class.”

Jaehyun notices Johnny freeze up.

“John?”

“I, uh, I gave it to someone.”

Jaehyun wants to hit Johnny with his pillow.

 

Jaehyun paces outside of Johnny’s classroom, waiting for their class to end. Johnny says the person who asked for his photo would give it back to him today outside of their room but he refuses to tell Jaehyun who it was.

_“It’s a classmate of mine. Drop by our room before you head to the cafeteria, the person will give it to you then.”_

Jaehyun wonders who in the right mind would ask for his photo. He begins to think of Johnny’s classmates and remembers if he’s met them. _Nakamoto Yuta? No, he’s dating the Chinese guy from our class. Kim Namjoo? She’s not that close to Johnny, though. Yoon Jeonghan? Isn’t he dating someone from their class?_

His thoughts are cut short when he sees Taeyong standing in front of him, staring into his eyes as if he’s trying to read Jaehyun’s thoughts. “Hey, Jaehyun.”

“T-tae—I mean, sunbae!” Taeyong chuckles at Jaehyun and whispers ‘cute’ so faintly, but not enough for Jaehyun not to hear it. He blushes and looks away, trying to avoid yet another embarrassing moment that involves Lee Taeyong.

“How can I help you, sunbae?” Jaehyun asks, still refusing to look at Taeyong. The latter notices how Jaehyun isn’t looking at him and this frustrates Taeyong so much he _makes_ Jaehyun look at him. Taeyong puts both of his hands on both of Jaehyun’s cheeks and makes the younger’s head turn to face him. He’s greeted by the sight of not only a red-eared Jung Jaehyun, but a fully flustered one. He smiles, praising himself for doing a good work.

Taeyong looks at Jaehyun’s eyes and notices how it’s shaking, maybe out of fear, out of embarrassment, out of awkwardness, but Taeyong decides to ignore all of that because he needs to do _it_ now. He can’t let another day pass without telling Jaehyun how the latter makes him feel whenever he sees him along the hallways or how Jaehyun’s smile is his answer to a really, really bad day. _It doesn’t matter,_ Taeyong thinks, _if he doesn’t like me. I just have to let him know._

Jaehyun sees Taeyong pull out his wallet and he’s suddenly reminded of his own, which has his deepest _darkest_ secret. He tries to look for Johnny from the swarm of people exiting their room but it’s weird how he can’t spot his giant of a best friend. “Jaehyun.” He then hears Taeyong call him.

Jaehyun turns his attention back to Taeyong, but he never, _ever_ expected to see Taeyong holding out a picture, _his picture,_ the same picture he asked back from Johnny, the very same picture Johnny told him he’d given away to a classmate, back to him. “Johnny says you need it for your History class?”

Jaehyun is in utter shock.

“I like you, Jaehyun. I have ever since you transferred here. Way before I even knew you were Johnny’s best friend. It’s silly, you might think it’s silly because I’m just-I’m nobody, I can’t even muster up the courage to talk to you alone for the past two years and every time I try to introduce myself to you when you’re with Johnny, you just magically disappear before I can even say hi, so I told Johnny about how much I like you and he told me to drop by the cafeteria because you’d be there and I honestly think I look like a fool right here in front of you saying incoherent words of confession, but I couldn’t wait, I just _had_ to let you know. I’m sorry for asking for your photo without you knowing I was the one who wanted it, but I just wanted to see your smile every damn day because it makes me happy, you know? Seeing you smile just makes me happy and-“ Taeyong stops to look at Jaehyun and sees him looking at Taeyong with a face he doesn’t know what to make of. He decides it’s enough rambling because he _swears_ he’s already said too much he might scare the poor man away for good.

“I like you, Jung Jaehyun.” Taeyong takes Jaehyun’s hand and notices how cold it is. He opens it and places the younger’s photo on his palm and smiles at Jaehyun. He mumbles a soft ‘ _I’m sorry’_ before 1walking away.

Taeyong’s on his way down the stairs when he hears loud footsteps of someone running while shouting _‘Taeyong sunbae!’_. He turns around and sees Jaehyun panting in front of him. Taeyong looks at him questioningly.

Jaehyun hands Taeyong his own wallet. He’s shaking, he’s nervous, heck, _he’s scared,_ but after everything Taeyong had said, it’s as if he has found this strength out of nowhere to confess to Taeyong too.

“Here, open it.” The older takes the said wallet and opens it. He’s startled when he sees his own photo. “W-where…?”

“I got it from the disciplinary officer’s office the other day. I-I’m sorry, I just like you too, so much. A lot more when I saw you dancing on the stage. A lot more when I saw Johnny’s candid photos of you for his project. And maybe so much more when you just straight up told me you like me. And I’m sure I’ll like you a whole lot more if you give me the chance to get to know you.” Jaehyun is amazed with himself because _wow that’s a good speech._

He sees Taeyong smile, but the man’s eyes are still focused on the photo in his wallet. Jaehyun waits for Taeyong’s response patiently, calming himself in the process. He shifts nervously when Taeyong looks up, beaming the most beautiful smile he’s ever seen in his entire life.

“It’s cute how dumb we both are.” Taeyong comments. Jaehyun can only chuckle. “Have lunch with me, Jung Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun wants to walk with Taeyong’s hand in his. And he does.

 

BONUS:

Ten lets go of Jaehyun’s wallet, disgusted with what he has found while he rummaged through it again while looking for food money. “Jaehyun, why the fuck do you have eight ID photos of Taeyong in your wallet?”

Jaehyun laughs, tightening his hold to the man beside him. “It’s _my_ wallet, Ten. It’s none of your business.” Taeyong laughs along and casually puts his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Don’t you have photos of Johnny in yours?”

“I do.” Ten makes a face towards Jaehyun before turning his attention to Taeyong. “But I only have one. I’m not obsessive, unlike your boyfriend.”

“I like that he’s obsessing over me, Ten.” Taeyong teases. Jaehyun chuckles louder, his hands now holding Taeyong’s waist. He kisses the top of Taeyong’s head and feels Taeyong’s embarrassment immediately. “Stop being disgusting, both of you.” Ten fake gags, and whines as soon as Johnny shows up with Ten’s food.

“Make them stop, Johnathan.”

“I can’t. I’ve tried and I’ve failed already, babe. We can’t do anything about it.” The short male glares at the couple in front of him but only Taeyong reacts by laughing harder, throwing a tissue at Ten, while Jaehyun looks at his boyfriend intently. Taeyong turns his attention to Jaehyun, feeling his Jaehyun’s gaze on him. “Hm?”

Jaehyun smiles. “I love you.”

Taeyong holds Jaehyun’s hand again and grazes his thumb over the back of the latter’s hand. Taeyong smiles, too. “I love you too, Jae.”

Jaehyun wants to be with Taeyong forever.


End file.
